From The Washington Post:
Stock markets fell sharply today as the Obama administration detailed its plans for a rescue of the financial system and a long-awaited fiscal stimulus package passed in the Senate.
The blue chip Dow Jones industrial plummeted following a speech by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner in which he detailed the administration’s plan to commit up to $1.5 trillion in public and private funds.
That stock plunge follows news his stimulus plan contains provisions taking health care decisions out of the hands of doctors and putting them under a "National Coordinator of Health Information Technology." That news follows reports from Boomberg Financial the total cost of government bailouts and spending will top $9.7 trillion. And that news follows reports from the Congressional Budget Office that his plan would not only take effect long after the recession has already ended, but it would actually cause long-term damage to the economy.
Obama tried to patch the damage, evident in plummeting poll numbers for the package, with a press conference last night in which he pointed to stimulus packages passed by the Japanese during their recessions of the 1990s. Not only do most economists agree those didn’t work (after all, if it worked why did they have to pass multiple bills over the course of a decade?) but they actually crippled Japan with crushing debt.
And Obama’s town hall meetings are beginning to look more like "The Price Is Right," with one woman asking the president to give her a free car, bathroom and kitchen. Dire and basic needs indeed, but working Americans can’t afford to buy everyone a Honda and remodeled home.
No word as to whether he made her guess the prices of canned good so she could putt closer to the hole. Look for future Obama events to be packed with Americans hoping to get "free" stuff.
